With the Space Show interview of Dr. Dartnell of August 15, 2015 as a starting point:

Designer Planet

A planet designed from the outset to provide:

Earth normal gravityAtmosphere of Oxygen and Nitrogen with trace gases Earth normal protection from galactic and local radiation Magnetic field to support deflection of ionized radiationOceans and land in appropriate proportionsLocation in the Earth normal habital zone around the star Maximum efficiency of use of materials

Many writers have described a variety of rotating habitats to provide Earth normal gravity on the INSIDE of the structure. This design would place inhabitants on the outside surface.

What I will describe here is NOT commonly described. There may well be examples in the literature, and if so, I'd appreciate someone pointing them out.

Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" does not apply, since access to the interior of the Earth is via volcanic tubes.

A planet designed according to the parameters given above would NOT waste precious mass in the center.

Mother Nature uses the simplest possible way to build a planet, and She has created a LOT of them, so I am not disputing the validity of the method.

My argument is that while the method of spherical accumulation is certainly effective, it is NOT the only solution (and I argue) it is NOT the most efficient use of mass.

The planet I envision would have sufficient mass to provide Earth normal gravitational attraction at the surface.

However, that mass would be distributed in the skin of the sphere, much as the mass of a basketball is distributed in the skin.

Engineers who take up the challenge of designing the internal structure of such a planet will have a field day.

Just as a basketball is kept in an agreeable spherical shape by gas pressure, I would expect gas pressure to be a significant factor in providing the structural integrity of the planet, but not the only factor.

Among many benefits of this design is the opportunity to travel through the interior of the planet to reach locations on the far side, without having to bother with travel on the surface.

The magnetic field needed for radiation protection must be generated from the interior, so some mass will be needed for that system.

Without doing the math, my guess is that the surface area of a planet designed as described here would be substantially greater than that of the Earth.

Call for participation:

I would appreciate the opportunity to work with someone who has modest mathematics and physics skills, and the use of modelling software such as Blender.

The first task is to find the combination of mass, sphere size and crust thickness that will provide one Gravity at the surface.

My starting assumption is that one Earth mass is insufficient.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 on Thu Oct 01, 2015 6:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

May every member of The Knowledge forum grow financially, intellectually, socially and beyond.

In the german heise/telepolis online news i found this hint to an article about "superinhabitable worlds":Bigger planets with a bit smaller suns would provide even better circumstances for live than earth.And the inhabitable ring zone will increase as the sun will grow: